The Canadian Football League held its annual college draft today and for the first time history, it was broadcast LIVE via the internet! A great step forward for the CFL as it starts to capitalize on its rising popularity from coast to coast.

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats picked up a number of players currently playing in Saskatchewan. With the first overall pick, they selected Chris Bauman (WR) from the Regina Rams. They then picked up Jordan Rempel (OL) from the University of Saskatchewan Huskies, followed by Chris Getzlaf (SB) from the Regina Rams.

Nothing out of the ordinary in today's draft though the Saskatchewan Roughriders did trade away a third round pick in next years draft to the Edmonton Eskimos, in exchange for the negotiating rights to QB Drew Tate. The former Iowa pivot just signed as an undrafted free agent with the St. Louis Rams.

I don't know about you guys but I can not wait for the CFL season to start... it should be a classic!

Well - I haven't really been able to get into the Stanley Cup playoffs at all this year with the Leafs on the golf course - and I just can't really bring myself to cheer for our provincial rival Ottawa. And yet I can't really cheer for yet another non-hockey market southern team either. The Raptors were fun for the 6 games they lasted in the playoffs - lots of fun actually. But now my NBA playoff interest has dryed up - especially with the Suns and Steve Nash gone. The Toronto FC have been an unexpectedly nice diversion of sorts - but unfortunately the Jays are really struggling and their season is really already toast. So I must admit I am beginning to get the itch for the start of the CFL season.

My Ti-Cats HAVE TO be better this year with the new coach Charlie Taaffe. Don't they? I have my tickets for the two Argos visits to Ivor Wynne this year. The season opener on July 7 and the annual Labour Day showdown - moved back to a 1:00PM afternoon start this year. I also will be at the Rogers Centre 5 days later on Sept. 8 for the TiCats only visit here to Toronto. Or - maybe they will visit again - perhaps for a playoff game? Or better yet - the Grey Cup - which I also already have my tickets for.

Some sad news I noticed on the TiCats website - the long time radio voice of the TiCats - Perc Allen - who I listened to as a kid when he was THE voice of the TiCats through the 60's, 70's and 80's - is dying from cancer. I remember his call of many of the highlight moments as I listened on radios of neighbouring fans back through the 70's, when as kids my brother, two cousins and I were lucky enough to have endzone season tickets at Ivor Wynne that were Christmas gifts each year from one of my aunts. There is a nice story about him in The Spectator.
http://www.hamiltonspectator.com/NASApp/cs...l=1014656511815

Well Pat, I think Taffe has a big challenge ahead of him after the Ti-Cats' 37-9 loss to my Stamps on Saturday night in Calgary! Of course, it's only the first game of the season, so time will tell. One bright spot for Hamilton was Jesse Lumsden, the big bruising running back, and son of Neil Lumsden who played for the Cats back in the 1980s. Also, their backup QB Timmy Chang showed signs of promise when he took over from an ineffective Jason Maas, but then threw an interception. The Stamps have some exciting new offensive talent, including Marc Boerigter who returned to Calgary after several years with the Kansas City Chiefs. Henry Burris was impressive with his running ability (rushed for nearly 100 yards, slightly more than star RB Joffrey Reynolds).

But I think the real rushing star of Saturday's game was a rabbit! Anyone who watched the game will know what I'm talking about, as the cameras clearly showed the little critter scampering around at will. Maybe the Ti-Cats should recruit him?

From CBC Sports:
The second quarter was delayed twice by a rabbit that made its way onto the field from underneath the McMahon Stadium stands. Cheered on and spooked by the spectators, it raced up and down the field and crossed the goal-line three times.

All the games on opening weekend were east vs west matches. Toronto defeated Grey Cup champs BC Lions and Saskatchewan beat Montreal. Winnipeg and Edmonton played to a 39-39 tie (a rarity in the CFL, although more common than in the NFL).

Hey Marc:
I agree with you that the rabbit was the star of the game. I was encouraged by the play of Lumsden and Chang. Maas looks like he is still hurt. Did he throw more than two passes more than 10 yards down the field all night? I won't panic yet as it is basically a completely new team from top to bottom. The Cats' kicker looked great too. As long as they improve from one week to the next - I'll continue to hold out hope for a playoff spot.

I'm off to Ivor Wynne this Saturday to see the Cats play the Argos. I've noticed the Argos' coaches have made the right move by announcing that Bishop will be their starting quarterback instead of the past his prime Damon Allen. I just hope the TiCat coach is quicker yanking Maas if he comes up with another performance like his performance in Calgary, otherwise it could be an ugly home opener for the Cats.

A trip to another TiCat home game - and another abysmal performance. Maas - was useless. Chang only marginally better. Yet another home game played before another large home crowd - just hundreds short of a sell-out - with the pre-game stuff absolutely first rate. A Canadian flag the size of the field for the anthem - 2 flyovers by three CF-18's. The crowd ready to roar - with TiCat legend Angelo Mosca leading the crowd in a pre-game Oskee-wee-wee.

Unfortunately they then went on to play a game. I think in half their home games during last year's disastrous season the TiCats were so inept that they did not score a touchdown. And what do you know the home season opener for 2007 and again no touchdowns - scoring only 5 points! Pathetic!

If only the team could do as well as everything else this franchise seems to be doing. Great marketing, so they are getting great crowds in spite of their poor performance, great pre-game stuff, the league's best website - http://www.ticats.ca/ - with over 20,000 members of the interactive community, which is more than double every other team apparently.

One thing is clear - the crowd want Chang to be the starting quarterback - not Maas. Huge cheers went up when the video board showed Chang warming up midway through the second quarter. Also in the TiCats stores at Ivor Wynne stadium Chang jerseys were flying off the shelf and nobody was buying Maas jerseys. Plus many people had signs saying things like 'No Maas'.

Next up - another struggling team as Montreal visits Ivor Wynne this Saturday on TSN and RDS.

Montreal at Hamilton. It's been called a good test for the Alouettes. (shows they are not very powerful!)
The battle for last place.

The team has secured governments funds to add 5,000 seats to the stadium. Games were sold out in previous seasons but if they start losing too much maybe all tickets will not be sold in the future and less of a need for the expansion.

Wow, it's been two months since anyone has posted here, so it's time for an update...I'm thinking everyone has turned their attention to the NFL now. Sorry, no Vick-Belichick-O.J. type scandals up here, just Canadian football But seriously, I can understand if Travelpat has given up on his Ticats. They are having yet another horrendous season, currently at 1-10. I think they've had a .500 plus season only once in the last five or six years. The long-suffering sports fans in Hamilton deserve better (I thought the prospect of a new NHL team there might give them something to cheer about, but it looks like that ain't gonna happen anytime soon). The addition of Casey Printers at QB might help, although he wasn't off to a good start last week against Winnipeg. I just hope the Ticats don't pick THIS week to turn things around, as they are playing at home against my Stampeders.

After a very mediocre start, Calgary has played well in its last four games, and now sit at 6-4-1, just a point behind Sask and two points behind BC. First an improbable 45-45 tie with the BC Lions (the CFL's different overtime format means that tie games are more common than in the NFL, where they almost unheard-of; there have already been two tie games this year in the CFL). This was followed by back-to-back wins over Edmonton, and a big win over Saskatchewan last weekend. Henry Burris' passing stats have improved, and he is exciting to watch when he keeps the ball; he has rushed for more yards than any other QB this season. I attended the Labour Day classic game between the Stamps and Esks, which is always a sellout. Besides being a great game, there was some 'bonus entertainment'. Six male streakers invaded the field within a few minutes of each other in the fourth quarter. Needless to say, the security staff had their hands full and were not impressed with the antics, although many fans including myself, and even some of the players, had a good laugh. It's too bad some of the players didn't disrobe instead, now THAT would have been a feast for the eyes Since that game, an extra fence has been installed at McMahon Stadium to keep out would-be streakers.

As it stands now, all four western teams would make the playoffs due to the CFL's 'crossover' rule. The 'flagship' CFL team, the Toronto Argonauts, at 4-7 aren't doing much better than Hamilton and would be eliminated from the post-season. But there are still seven games left for each team...

GO STAMPS!

PS, it's worth mentioning that Jarrett Payton, son of the late GREAT Walter Payton, is playing for the Montréal Alouettes and is having a good season there.

Six streakers? Was this an organized group that planned this out? I can't imagine that many drunken fools (or just plain old fools) streaking on their own, or that one ran out and then five others suddenly became inspired to copy his stunt.

Hey Marc:
Yes I have finally given up on this season too. The TiCats really are a pathetic football team - with a great marketing department. What other team with only 5 wins in their last 30 games would still manage to draw an enthusiastic near sell-out crowd for their Eastern version of the Labour Day Classic - only to watch the combination of Timmy Chang and Jason Maas implode as the Argos blew them out! From the minute it was announced stud Jesse Lumsden was injured and not playing - I knew we were toast. I was of course at that game. Thousands there more than 2 hours before kick off in the stands. Amazing pre-game show with a flyover and about 10 parachutists landing at mid field. Now if only we had a team to watch.

I also attended the rematch back here in Toronto the following Saturday - just as bad a result with the Argos in a cake walk.. The marketing part of the TiCats are flawless - more on that later. Too bad the important part - the team - is so bad. The game against Winnipeg the other night may have been the worst I have seen a so-called professional football team ever play. I lost count of how many fumbles - two of them for Bomber touchdowns, double digit dropped passes, about as many quarterback sacks. It was brutal. Without the running game of Lumsden the last few weeks it has been painful to watch.

However - your Stamps may be in for a rough ride this Friday night as Lumsden is back and their best receiver Armstead is back too - which should be a huge help for Printers. And you - like I - may have been thinking they would be playing in front of a half empty stadium - right? Not so fast - the great marketing department has plans to FILL the stadium as they have announced this on the Tiger Cat website as part of the team honouring Danny McManus that night.
**************************************************
McMANUS TEAMS WITH TICATS FOR CHARITY

Hamilton, Ontario – Following the success of last night’s sold-out Danny McManus Charity Dinner in Ancaster, which raised approximately $10,000 for McMaster Children’s Hospital and the Feed The Children Foundation, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats announced that all proceeds from all tickets sold as of 12:00 a.m on Friday, September 21st right up until kickoff will also be donated to these worthwhile charities.

“Danny’s support for the Hamilton community and his kindness and generosity have touched the lives of many children throughout our communities and following his career with the Ticats, he continues to help those who need it most,” said president Scott Mitchell. “Following Danny’s example, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats are pleased to donate EVERY penny from EVERY ticket that is purchased on gameday this Friday to McMaster Children’s Hospital and the Feed The Children Foundation. To put this in perspective, every 1,000 tickets sold on Friday will raise approximately $30,000 for these charities and we anticipate 5,000 tickets being available.”

McManus played eight seasons as a Ticat, during which he set several team passing records and helped the team capture the 1999 Grey Cup Championship. Perhaps more important than his accolades and achievements on the field was his involvement in the Hamilton community off the field. In 2005, he was recognized for this dedication and captured the CFL’s Tom Pate Award as the player who demonstrates outstanding sportsmanship and dedication to the League and community.

“I’ve been involved with collegiate and professional football for more than 25 years and I can say that I’ve never seen this type of fundraising done in any sport before,” said McManus. “These are two great charities that are so close to my heart and I am urging all Ticats fans and our entire community to help support this initiative. Remember that EVERY penny from EVERY ticket sold on Friday will go directly to these charities, so buy a ticket and help us make a difference.”

McManus will be honoured with a special halftime tribute on Friday during the Ticats game against the Calgary Stampeders. Kick-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
*************************************************************

So even though they have sucked - with a gesture like that I'm proud to say I'm a Ti-Cat fan.
Oskee wee wee!

This CFL season has been interesting to say the least, with a number of teams capable of hoisting the Grey Cup high above their head (unless it breaks again haha)

Here's my breakdown so far...

BC Lions - It's surprising that a team with it's starting and backup quarterback out with injury, can still be in first place in the West Division. I think Dave Dickenson's career is over. While they're still in first, I don't see that fire in their eyes that helped them win the Grey Cup last year. Something is missing and I'm not sure what, though it could very well be a Grey Cup hangover.

Saskatchewan Roughriders - They were one of the hottest teams in the CFL until injuries destroyed them. All season they had battled the injury bug but it now appears to be winning the battle. Losing Matt Dominguez was a terrible blow and their secondary is hurting as well. If the right guys come back from injury at the right time, the Riders could very well win their first Grey Cup since 1989... but then again, it IS Saskatchewan so they could find a way to screw this up.

Calgary Stampeders - Quite possibly one of the most frustrating teams to watch in the league. They have the talent and the right pieces to win a Championship, but whether or not they "turn it on" for each and every game remains to be seen. Henry Burris has been hot in recent games and they have one of the most talented offenses in the league. Don't be surprised to see them sipping champagne in Toronto this November.

Edmonton Eskimos - I told everyone that would listen, that the Green and Gold would be in last place yet again this year. Danny Maciocia is a terrible head coach who has no business being behind the bench for another year. He was a great offensive co-ordinator in Montreal and got lucky in Edmonton. The Esks were mediocore the year they won the Grey Cup under Maciocia... they just got hot near the playoffs. Since then, they've missed the playoffs for the first time in 35 years and appear to be on that pace yet again. It's a disgrace.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats - I'm not even going to waste my time with this team. An embarassment to the CFL. You have Casey Printers and Jesse Lumsden... get a decent O-Line and you'll be fine... but alas, what do I know

Toronto Argonauts - They didn't really do much to improve in the off season and have once again decided to stick to Grandpa aka Damon Allen. He's one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game north of the border, but his time is up. 23 years in the league is a LONG time. But who do you pass the buck to? Rocky Butler? Michael Bishop? Neither, in my opinion, is starting material...

Montreal Alouettes - The loss of Anthony Calvillo really hurt them and getting a guy like Jason Maas isn't going to help either. Much like the Argos, the Als have relied too much on their quarterback and that has now come back to haunt them.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers - You talk about the surprise of the CFL, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers have literally come out of nowhere to lead the East Division. Kevin Glenn is proving that he's more than capable of being a starting quarterback in this league, and it certainly helps when you have the all-time leading touchdown king in Milt Stegall. Don't be surprised to see them in the Grey Cup Finals.

OK - so not to toot my own horn or anything - but TiCat fans so rarely have a chance to gloat - or even cheer for that matter - I just could not resist. 24-22 the TiCats edge the Stamps in a thriller at a raucous Ivor Wynne Stadium. They did not completely fill the stadium - but fewer than 5,000 empty seats - not bad for a team that had only won one game before last night. And talk about vocal support - watching at home on TV even the TSN announcers were talking about how loud and crazy the Ivor Wynne crowd was. As play-by-play man Chris Cuthbert said at one point. 'You've got to love it when Ivor Wynne is going off like this!'

Great effort by Jesse Lumsden on his TD and what a job by the TiCat back up QB after Printers went down late in the first half! At least they show signs of being able to be a present a good challenge to any team they play the rest of the season. If nothing else we may spoil things for some of the teams we play the rest of the way.

A nice win by Hamilton... a terrible loss for Calgary in more ways than one. They could have gained ground on Saskatchewan, especially when you consider that the Riders lost a heart breaker to the BC Lions last night. The Stamps also lost the services of Henry Burris for at least two weeks with a seperated shoulder.

Travelpat,
My belated congrats to your Cats on their unexpected win over my Stamps. But why couldn't they have waited until NEXT week to finally win their second game of the season? I thought Calgary was comfortably ahead with those two TD catches by Ken-Yon Rambo (love that game). In fact I dozed off in front of my TV early in the fourth quarter, missing Jesse Lumsden's TD, so I was stunned to see the tide had turned in Hamilton's favour by the time I woke up. And of course, Henry Burris' late injury is cause for concern here, the backup Akili Smith has had very little playing time. BTW, Danny McManus is a classy guy, I've always liked him (and he played for the Stamps briefly before he retired). It's nice to see him being honoured like that at Ivor Wynne stadium, and I agree that ticket-selling strategy is a good one, being linked to a worthy cause. Incidentally, on a semi-related note, Stamps' offensive lineman Jay McNeil has a young autistic son, and a teenaged autistic boy in Hamilton sent an e-mail to McNeil awhile ago, to express his encouragement to McNeil basically telling him that autism is not "all bad". McNeil was extremely touched by the Hamilton lad's message of support and the two have now met each other in person. If I can find the story, I'll post it later.

Joe
Good question about the streakers, it wasn't clear from the news reports if this was an organized, pre-meditated thing or just a spontaneous series of copy-cats. But I do know that the offenders all spent a night in jail, appropriately without their clothing. And for the record, I wasn't one of them...otherwise, the stadium would have emptied in a hurry!

Enigma
I agree with you about Dave Dickenson. I think it's time for him to pack it in. And ditto your comment about how the Lions keep on winning without him. I only saw a bit of the game, but noticed they were using their THIRD string QB (Jarius Jackson) in their come-from-behind win over Saskatchewan yesterday.

I'm sure they would have been rushing to post your bail, Marc!

Is Mike McMahon still somewhere in the CFL? If so, please do what you can to keep him.

You mean the Eagles don't miss him, Joe?? I remember the hype when McMahon signed with Toronto, but he didn't live up to expectations. He played only a couple of games with the Argos, including one in July here at Calgary's stadium, which happens to share his surname. The Stamps whipped them by a big margin in that game. He has since been traded to Montreal, but I don't think he's seen any action yet.

BTW, here's a link to the story I mentioned earlier: http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Columnists/Franc...511779-sun.html

I'm not sure why for the past week the title page for the various threads has listed Joe as having made the last post (Sept 23) when actually I had posted a day later. A minor glitch in the system, I guess. Anyway, it was not a good week for the Stampeders. It's bad enough they lost Henry Burris and had to go to Vancouver to play the first-place Lions. But to add injury to injury, backup Akili Smith went down and had to be replaced by third-stringer Barrick Nealey. Overall, a disastrous game for Calgary, as the 42-9 thumping would indicate. The Lions keep on winning with THEIR third-string QB, however. Fortunately the Eskimos lost to Toronto, so the Stamps still hold the third spot in the west. But they have back-to-back games coming up against Winnipeg, a good team they still haven't played yet this season.

Calvillo will not play again this season due to his wife's illness. I'm not sure if that includes the playoff game or just the regular season. The Eskimos lost so the Alouettes are assured of having one post season game.

So the starting QB for the Alouettes against the Stampeders is Jason Maas.

12 Days until Grey Cup Sunday here in Toronto.

Sorry Bomber fans - yes it was a THRILLING last play of the game field goal to win you the semi-final over Montreal yesterday - but for the sake of the event - I hope the Argos knock off your Bombers in the East final next weekend. And yes that is a Ti-Cat fan saying he hopes the Argos suck.....oops I mean win. Sorry reflex action ingrained since I was a two year old growing up in Hamilton. ;-)

If the Argos can win for the first itime in 5 years a home team will be in the Grey Cup. Winnipeg representing the east - just would not cut it and I fear there would be a repeat of the last time the Cup was played here almost 15 years ago - when the SkyDome ended up being almost half empty for the game itself with thousands of no-shows.

Besides I've got my tickets already and I want the place to be rocking - and not just because of Lenny Kravitz playing at halftime. That will only happen if the Argos are in the game in front of their own fans - who have already bought over 50,000 of the seats.

Why has it been so long between games? Seems like the game ought to have been there every few years.

Hey Joe:
The Grey Cup pretty much used to shift from Montreal to Vancouver to Toronto because it was thought only the 'BIG' cities could properly host the event. The odd time they played it somewhere else. But after the poor attendance in Toronto the last time it was held here - where interest in the CFL had really waned largely because of the Jays and their World Series runs at that time - and the 'we're too good for the CFL' mentality that crept into the mindset of many in Toronto - the league avoided awarding the game to Toronto like the plague. And in fact as of late the event has been very successful when hosted in places like Winnipeg, Regina, Edmonton etc.

But now that the Argos are back in vogue - at least somewhat - over 40,000 at the last home game - this city seemed ready to be a good host for the Cup again. And the advance ticket sales with over 50,000 seats sold locally with even Upper Deck seats over $100.00, obviously the demand is there.

But because of the Ottawa team being in hiatus due to ownership problems again - just like the last time Toronto hosted the Cup - Winnipeg is temporarily shifted to the Eastern Conference. They are usually one of 5 Western Conference teams with Saskatchewan, BC, Calgary and Edmonton and the East is 4 teams of Toronto, Hamilton, Montreal and usually Ottawa. Well with Ottawa on hiatus for a few years while they get new ownership in place - that dropped the East to 3 teams so they shift Winnpeg to the East to have two 4 team divisions. The Grey Cup has always been this grand East versus West spectacle - and in the years Winnipeg is temporarily shifted East - if they end up making the final as supposedly the East's representative - well it just doesn't seem to really feel right to most Canadians, certainly not to those of us who actually live in the 'East'. Winnipeg as one of 'us'......sorry that's a stretch.

That's why it will really help if the Argos win this Sunday. If it is Winnipeg - I'm sure most ticketholders will still show-up for the Grey Cup game - but it just would not be the same.

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats could be in the Grey Cup Final but as long as the Saskatchewan Roughriders are there, it would be sold out and then some!

I had a chance to go to the Bombers/Als game last weekend and it was pretty good. While I was cheering for Winnipeg, I do have to give Jim Popp my support in his decision to gamble on the 3rd down late in the game. The wind was so ridiculous that the field goal posts looked like they'd snap - so there's no way they could have kicked it well into the wind.

My Predictions for the Division Finals...

Winnipeg over Toronto
Saskatchewan over BC

Hey Enigma:
I'll go with the Argos over Winnipeg and agree with you on the Riders over BC.

If I'm not mistaken the last time the Green Riders played a Grey Cup game at SkyDome (Rogers Centre), it was one of the greatest and most exciting Grey Cups ever played. They squeaked out a win over my beloved Tiger Cats on a last play field goal 43-40 in the 1989 Grey Cup. If they play a game even remotely as exciting as that one, should they make it to the Grey Cup final - I will be one happy camper up in Section 527 Row 2 Seat 1.

Travelpat, I agree with you that a 'true' east-west Grey Cup game usually generates more interest. I feel kind of bad for fans in Winnipeg who, because of that city's geographical location, have seen their team shuffled back and forth between conferences several times (by the way, not only when the Ottawa Rough Riders/Renegades have folded-up, but also when Montreal was without a team for a few years). I can understand why eastern Canadians just can't get too enthusiastic about a team from the prairies representing them! Thus an Argos vs BC or Sask game next week would be a better scenario, and of course, especially because Toronto is also hosting the Grey Cup game. It will be interesting to see the attendance figures if the Argos make it to the Grey Cup, as I still have some doubts as to whether Toronto has really "embraced" the team, given the "we're too good for the CFL" mentality that you (Travelpat) accurately described in your post, and the endless rumours about the NFL moving in to Toronto.

Of course, a Winnipeg-Saskatchewan Grey Cup is a possibility. That might even be "worse" than a Winnipeg-BC matchup from a national marketing perspective, as it would involve teams from the two smallest markets, and both are prairie cities, not that far apart from each other. Sort of like Indianapolis vs Chicago playing in last year's Super Bowl, although Americans don't seem to have the same sort of need for an 'east-west' championship as Canadians do.

My Stampeders ended the regualar season with a disappointing 7-10-1 record, and yet that losing record was still good enough to qualify for the playoffs. Mediocrity is rewarded in a league that has only eight teams, and I'm starting to wonder if we will EVER see more teams, ie yet another incarnation of a team in Ottawa, and a team in Halifax, which has been talked about for at least 25 years now....Anyway, the Stamps went on to lose to Saskatchewan last week in the western semi-final, although the score was closer than expected. There was a lot of controversy here in Calgary in the week prior to the playoffs, with the premature, un-classy firing of head coach Tom Higgins, a bizarre incident between an assistant coach and the usually-quiet/reserved running back Joffrey Reynolds, and the benching of veteran linebacker Brian Clark. Things are messy here in Stampederland.

BTW, the last time a host city won the Grey Cup was in Montreal in 1977, way before my time

Enigma was right. The two home playing teams lost.

GREEN IS THE COLOUR, FOOTBALL IS THE GAME!!!!!!!

Saskatchewan is in celebration mode tonight. Fans spilled out onto the streets of Regina and Saskatoon, as the Riders are back in the Grey Cup Final for the first time since 1997!!!

I don't know if it's possible but I would love to see either Cyd or Jim watch the 95th Grey Cup on Sunday and do a write up on their opinion on the game. I truly believe that a lot of people south of the border don't give the CFL the credit it deserves... and as a proud supporter of the game, I would love to hear what other football fans think.

BTW, for those who have never seen much of the CFL... I ask you to watch this quick video... this is why I love the CFL! There's always a chance to win...

Milt Stegall "Miracle Catch"

I still can't decide who I am going to cheer for this Sunday at the game. Anytime I have gone to a Grey Cup game in the past - and my Ti-Cats were not playing - I've always cheered for the East. But I don't really consider Winnipeg to be really from the East and like one article in the Toronto Star noted today - for whatever reason Saskatchewan seems to be a natural second choice team for almost all the fans of the other CFL teams. (I guess comparable to Green Bay - whcih seems to be the second choice team for a lot of NFL fans.) So in fact the majority of the 'eastern' crowd may be cheering for the 'western' rep - Saskatchewan.

There are six of us going to the game this Sunday - although seated in 3 pairs - not together - and the only one of the six of us who knows who he is cheering for is my friend Blair who is sitting with me. He's cheering for Winnipeg - but that is because he grew up on a farm outside Winnipeg and went to many of their games as a kid. Plus this is the first Grey Cup game he has ever been to - so he is all excited and ready to go crazy cheering for his Bombers.

So do I go along with my friend and cheer for his team? We have always had fun in the past cheering for the Jays at the many games we have gone to together. In fact I was at Blair's house going totally whacko watching on TV when the Jays won their first World Series down in Atlanta. Or would it be more fun to cheer for the other team - since obviously - I really don't care who wins? It may come down to game time and a flip of the coin! Or maybe it will come down to what colour shirt happens to be clean that day if I don't get to my laundry this week. If I end up wearing Blue - I'll cheer for the Blue Bombers, if it a green shirt - I cheer for the Green Riders. lol

If you wanna party, my suggestion is to wear some green, put a watermelon on your head and cheer on the RIDERS!!!!

Provide a ticket, hotel room and airfare and I'm there!

Okay, I guess that won't work, will it? A couple of years ago I actually found the Grey Cup game live on some HD channel on my digital cable (I don't have an HDTV but I still get the feeds for those channels). Last year I don't think it was carried. Unfortunately, even if I got it this year part of the game would run up against the Eagles-Patriots game and I am contractually obligated to watch that game before it gets out of hand.

'Joe in Philly' date='Nov 20 2007, 09:44 PM'
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Unfortunately, even if I got it this year part of the game would run up against the Eagles-Patriots game and I am contractually obligated to watch that game before it gets out of hand.
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Hey Joe:
Eagles - Patriots don't kick off until 8:15PM, and should be decided by about 8:45PM.
The Grey Cup kick-off is scheduled for 6:00PM. So that means you should be able to watch the entire first half, maybe even the start of the 3rd quarter if you happen to get the Grey Cup - then switch over to the Eagles-Pats start - and be back to the Grey Cup in time for any 4th quarter heroics once the Pats-Eagles game is out of hand by late in the 1st quarter of that game

Saskatchewan vs Winnipeg

THE ULTIMATE BANJO BOWL!!!

It doesn't get much better than this!

The only listing I can find on the TV Guide on my DVR is a tape-delayed telecast on Comcast Sportsnet here from 1:30 am to 4:30 am. However, with their Eagles post-game show and regular nightly sports wrapup show, my guess is that they won't start it on time or else they'll cut off the beginning of the telecast. Plus, I'm going to assume that, like the Super Bowl, the Grey Cup live telecast will run well over 3 hours, so it'll be cut anyway to fit the 3-hour timeslot.

I'm actually surprised it's scheduled to go until 4:30. Usually they go to infomercials at 4 am without fail when they show replays of games. And they don't even edit, they just cut out the start of the game. A Phillies game that goes, say, 14 innings, the replay at 1:30 will start with the fifth or sixth inning.

It's even worse for Comcast Sportnet - Washington. For some reason, they showed about quarter of the CFL season, until the NFL preseason started, then they stopped. Since that point, they haven't showed another game, not live, not tape-delay, NOTHING.

They obviously won't be airing the Grey Cup.

A lot of people are calling it the Banjo Bowl, but I couldn't remember the origin of the phrase. But after I read the explanation, it came back to me.....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banjo_Bowl.

There are thousands upon thousands of Green Rider fans here, mainly because so many ex-Saskatchewanites have moved to Calgary over the years, although many of them are selling their homes and moving back, taking advantage of the lower house prices and improving economy in Saskatchewan. I can always count on seeing a very large contingent of Rider fans when their team plays at McMahon Stadium.

Kerry Joseph (Riders' QB) won the Most Outstanding Player award. Most of the other awards went to the BC Lions, including WR Jason Clermont, who won the Most Outstanding Canadian award. No disrespect to Joseph, but it's always annoyed me that they have a special category for Canadians, as it means that a Canadian can't possibly be the Most Outstanding Player, period (it's been nearly 30 years since that happened). The M.O.P. is usually awarded to a quarterback, and as CFL fans know only too well, that position is virtually reserved for an American.

My prediction: Riders 27, Bombers 24 (Troy Westwood will miss a game-tying field goal in the dying seconds)

OK, I was wrong about the score, but the Roughriders still won the game 23-19, only their third Grey Cup win in the team's history (the others being in 1966 and 1989). Certainly not the best championship game ever played---only two offensive TDs, and neither Kerry Joseph nor Ryan Dinwoodie were very productive in their passing stats. On the plus side, Joseph ran the ball himself for more than 100 yards (I love QBs who can run) and the lead changed hands several times. And the Riders' defensive back James Johnson deserved his player of the game award, with THREE interceptions (a Grey Cup record), one of which resulted in a touchdown. I think the three safeties conceded in the game was also a record. I thought the strangest 'play' of the game was when the Bombers' coach challenged a challenge, which resulted in a delay of game penalty...I don't think I've ever seen that happen before.

The Canadian group Barenaked Ladies sang the anthem, but it was American Lenny Kravitz who did the halftime show (usually it's a Canadian artist). However, perhaps in tribute to the fact that one of the teams on the field (Winnipeg) was home to the '70s band Guess Who, he performed their classic hit "American Woman".

I don't dislike the Blue Bombers, and I feel bad that Milt Stegall may be retiring without a Grey Cup victory. Stegall has played his entire career 13-year career in Winnipeg and this year became the all-time touchdown leader in the CFL. He has earned a lot of respect in Winnipeg, and even has a street named after him. And kicker Troy Westwood, now 40 years old and with the Bombers even longer than Stegall without a Grey Cup ring, may not be back next year either.

Regina is by far the smallest city in the CFL (although still a lot bigger than its US equivalent, Green Bay), but they have the most loyal fans in the league, and that support comes from the whole province. You should be proud of them, Enigma! I'm sure the Cup will be making its rounds to Saskatoon, P.A., Moose Jaw and probably some smaller towns too.

CONGRATULATIONS, SASKATCHEWAN 2007 GREY CUP CHAMPS! (I wanted to put this in green, but the colour feature isn't working for some reason).

Rider Nation is rejoicing and the party will continue right through till next year! For just the third time in franchise history, the Saskatchewan Roughriders are Grey Cup Champions... it just doesn't get much better than that!

While not an offensive thriller, this game was a fascinating game of cat and mouse. Each side struggling yet showing flashes of brilliance in a blink of an eye. The Bombers certainly have nothing to be ashamed of, and while his inexperienced showed, I thought Ryan Dinwiddie played a pretty good game for a guy who was making his first pro start in the biggest game of the year.

Props to Kent Austin and Eric Tillman for turning the Riders into a Championship team... the goal now is to keep certain pieces of the puzzle in place. For example, Kerry Joseph - he took a SUBSTANTIAL pay cut (over 100K) to remain with the Riders as he believed in Austin/Tillman's vision of a TEAM atmosphere. You can bet he'll be looking for a raise which means some changes will be made in Riderville.

But let's not worry about that for now... let's enjoy the party and celebrate a fantastic CFL season. Here's hoping for another good year next season.

PS - The BC Lions are expected to release QB Dave Dickenson tomorrow... I wonder where he'll go.

I've being meaning to post here for the last couple of days - but just did not get a chance. Congrats to the Green Riders and all their CRAZY fans who took over Toronto this past weekend. They certainly outnumbered Bomber fans about 4-1 would be my guess at the Rogers Centre for the game on Sunday. And talking to some - they dropped a heck of a lot of money to be there. The average airfare people seemed to get was in the $900.00 range. A number of people mentioned that they paid $250.00 - $300.00 for the $100.00 Upper Deck seats where I was. Add that to their hotel and all the partying and it made for one expensive weekend. And unlike the Super Bowl festivities that are dominated by corporate types on expense accounts - these were salt of the earth football fans at the Grey Cup!

It was just a BLAST to be at the game - it really is like a slice of Canadiana. I met a ton of people from Saskatchewan and Winnipeg of course, but also chatted with a lot of Argos fans from Toronto, Lions fans from BC, Stamps fans from Calgary, Eskie fans from Edmonton, people from Ottawa, Hamilton, Montreal, Halifax. For many it was there first Grey Cup - but for some others it was Grey Cup number 10-15 or even 25 in one man's case. And everybody talked to everybody. Many said to me - once they knew I was from Hamilton - that they hoped the Ti-Cats with Printers at QB would be a improved team next year, saying the great support Cat fans have given such a lousy team for so long was amazing. It was great to hear comments like that from real football fans of other teams in the league.

I decided since they were such underdogs - and because Dinwiddie is so damn cute - that I would cheer for the underdog Bombers. So I broke out any Blue and gold clothes i could find and cheered as loudly as i could for the Bombers. I was with my friend Blair in Row 2 of the 500 level with a familty of three from Saskatchewan sitting in front of us. They had a hoot - but man to see how tense they and the tens of thousands of fellow Rider fans were, when it looked like Dinwiddie might lead the Bombers to a win with a last minute drive was quite something. The lady in front of me was squeezing the railing in front of her so hard you could literally see her knuckles turning white. The son was so nervous he was just continuously rocking back and forth. And the father continuously was running his hand over his head in nervousness. The Rider fans across the aisle from us were just screaming 'Stop them! Stop them! And then one of them would look at me with this absolutely panicked look on his face saying -'We can't lose now! - We just can't!' Needless to say it was a roar of relief when Dinwiddie threw the interception inside the Rider 40 yard line with less than a minute to go.

The local organizers here did a great job from everything I saw and everything I heard. The only problem was that the Rogers Centre did not have nearly enough beer stations opened up on the 500 level and you ended up having to line up for 20 minutes or longer to get beer. I gave up at halftime after having missed half the first quarter in line and switched to pop. The entertainment on the stages outside the Rogers Centre for hours before the game was great and packed with tens of thousands of people - including a ton who could not get tickets to the game. Scalpers had a field day. The pregame and halftime show rocked too. The game itself - other than the fact it was a tense close finish - so-so. But being among those 52,000+ football fans from all over Canada - that was the best part of the day.

Congrats Riders!

I may just have to pencil in a trip to Montreal for next November.

Watched the whole game....all I thought was "Damn, that Saskatchewan team has this one really hot Chick on their team" .

Gotta get to one of those Grey Cup finals, they seem so damned cool to be at.

Provide a ticket, hotel room and airfare and I'm there! I wouldn't mind visiting Montreal again. Who knows, pending the release of the 2008 NFL schedule (since an Eagles game, home or away, is becoming an annual event) and my financial situation, maybe it will happen...

In 1989, Quarterback Kent Austin led the Saskatchewan Roughriders to team's second Grey Cup Championship.

In 2007, as a first year Head Coach, Kent Austin returned to Saskatchewan and helped lead the Riders to its third Grey Cup Championship.

Considering he accomplished everything he set out to do in just his first year, it's no surprise that Kent Austin is on the move again...

Kent Austin has stepped down as Head Coach of the Saskatchewan Roughriders. He has accepted the Offensive Co-ordinator position with Ole Miss in the NCAA. Austin was a QB with the Rebels back in the early 80's and was recently inducted into their Hall of Fame.

No word yet on who the Riders will choose to replace Austin but if I were a betting man... Richie Hall will move into the Head Coaching position, while Bobby Jurasin will become Defensive Co-ordinator.

Canada has been using the metric system for more than 30 years now, and it looks like it is finally catching up with the CFL. No more yards, it's going to be metres from now on, and rightly so. There are already some major differences between our game and the American game, but this will now make our version truly Canadian, and consistent with our cherished system of measurement. This story is from the CBC's Calgary Eyeopener aired earlier this week. The new mandatory coversion from yards to metres is not going over too well with the league, and as an incensed Henry Burris (Stamps' QB) points out, it will be tougher now to get a first down, as a metre is more than 3 inches longer than a yard:

Scroll down to "Eyeopener exclusive on CFL forced to go metric"

http://www.cbc.ca/eyeopener/

Marc...did you read all of the words that go along with that link?

Joe, yes I did...April Fool! But when I originally heard it on my local CBC radio station on Tuesday morning, I must admit it really DID have me fooled! I thought it was strange that over the next two days, I heard absolutely nothing further about the 'metric plan' for the CFL on any Canadian sports shows or websites, so yesterday I started having my suspicions. I went to the CBC Eye Opener's website and sure enough there was the story with a link to the same broadcast I had heard, with the disclaimer that the whole thing was an April Fool's hoax.

However, I was hoping other people on Outsports wouldn't notice that reference, and go ahead and listen to the story. So I played along with it, posting with a 'straight face' and no emoticons, and acting like I supported the idea of the new metric CFL. Apparently I wasn't the only listener who fell for it...this morning (Friday) on the Eye Opener, they played back several phone messages from concerned football fans who had believed the story too. So that's TWICE this week I've been the victim of a sports-related April Fool's joke...you saw the Jarome Iginla story on the hockey thread.

Even though Canada is predominantly metric and we are all long accustomed to distances in kilometres, gas sold in litres, air temperatures in Celsius, etc, some of the old 'imperial' units persist to this day: people's heights and weights are still commonly expressed in feet/inches and pounds (not centimetres and kilograms), oven temperatures are often still in Fahrenheit...and CFL games still use yards, at least until further notice.